The Linguistic and Cultural Interpretation of Dissonant Heritage: the ATRIUM Cultural Route

The European Cultural Route ATRIUM (Architecture of Totalitarian Regimes in Europe's Urban Memory) deals with dissonant heritage, referring to a contrast of meaning and value systems between the past and the present. The route will be examined within the framework of a set of communication strategies for cultural routes. This short paper will look at some linguistic aspects related to the ATRIUM route and its ‘dissonant heritage’. By analysing some examples of existing promotional approaches related to this particular heritage, it will outline some considerations for a communicative strategy appropriate to the overall narrative structure of the ATRIUM cultural route, with special regard to a bottom-up constructivist approach.